Means for producing high-tension discharges.



J. E. SEEL-EY.

MEANS FOR PRODUCING HIGH TENSION meanness.

APPLICATION FILED APB.. 15, 1909.

1,015,088. Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETBSHEET 1.

a -nnu i l 4 J. E. SHELBY.

MEANS FOR PBODUGING HIGH TENSION DISCHARGES. APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, '1909.

1,015,088. Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

UNITED strings. Pagan OFFICE.

JAMES E. SEELEY, 01 Los ANGELES, cnirr'onma, ASSIGNOR TO HIGH FREQUENCY IGNITION COIL COMPANY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

MEANS 'EoR rnonocme HIGH-TENSION nrscnnnens.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

. Application fiIed April 15, 1909. Serial No. 490,168.

State of California, have invented a new and useful Means for Producing High-Tension Discharges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for producing high tension oscillatory discharges, particularly for use in ignition in internal combustion engines.

The invention has special relation to the production of discharges which involve the disruption of current ofcbnsiderable energy at the primary break. In suchcases the primary circuit breaking device is subject to rapid deterioration by the arcing at the break.

The main object of the present invention is to prevent deterioration of the contacts of the circuit breaker by the arcing at the break.

A further object of the invention is to so continually change the location of the break in relation to the contacts so that the deterioration due to arcs is distributed over the contacts.

Other objects of the. invention appear hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings :-Figure l is an end elevation of the circuit controller which is adapted particularly for use as the timer of an internal combustion engine, showing parts in section. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof on the linew w in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diagram of the circuit connections. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the resonator for producing high frequency discharges. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the resonator. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a different form of the invention, showing parts in section. of the form shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8' is a diagram of the circuit connections for the.

form of the invention shown in Fig. 6.

The invention will be described particularly with reference to an ignition device of an internal combustion engine, for. example, a two cylinder engine.

l designates a shaft which mayf be the valve operating shaft of the engine and 2 designates a rotary circuit breaking member attached to or carried by said shaft and Fig. 7 is an axial section,

adapted to rotate between the circuit controlling contacts to alternately make and break the circuits thereof. Said circuit controlling contacts comprise an inner con? tact 3 and outer contacts 4. Contact 3 is preferably formed as a metallic wheelerroller journaled on an arbor or stud 6 secured to the supporting plate or disk 7 of metal, a spring 8- being interposed between the contact wheel v3 and the stud 6 to insure electric connection therebetween. tacts 4 preferably consist of wheels or rollers, each mounted to rotate upon a journal pin 9 carried by arms 10' which are pivoted at ll'on brackets 12 secured to the insulating circular rim 13. Springs 15 engage the arms 10 and the brackets 12 topre'ss the contact wheels itoward the central contact wheel 3. The rotative circuit breaking member consists'in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3 of a shell of insulating material. Said insulating shell 2 is formed as a segment of a cylinder having a portion thereof cut out, as shown at 18, to allow the outer contact rollers 4; to come into contact with the central contact roller 3 alternately, so

in the rotation of said insulating shell. Insulating support or rim- 13 is conveniently supported in axial relation to the operating shaft 1 by a member 20 connectedto said rim and turning on collars. 21, 23 by ball:

bearings 22, said'collars 21, 23 being secured on said shaft. Said collar 23 has a plate 24 fastened to said collar by screws 25 which plate serves for attachment of the insulating shell 2 to the shaft. secured at its outer edge to the insulating rim 13.

The electrical connections are shown in Fig. 3. One side of the battery or source of energy 30 is connected by wire31 to the shaft 6 of the central roller 3, the otherside of said battery being connected by Wire to the self induction coil 34 from which a wire 28 leads to the primary coil 35 of two resonators 36, the other ends of said primary coils being connected by wires 37 to the respective supporting brackets 12 of the two outer contact rollers. A condenser 39 is connected on a circuit 29 between the wires 28, 31. The resonators may be of the con struction shown in Figs. 4: and 5, being formed with primary coils 35 preferably in the form of wire or ribbon of few turns and The con- 65 The metal disk 7 is 90 within the primary winding and being connected at its outer end to the inner end of the primary Winding and the inner end of the secondary wire being connected to the sparking electrode 41.

induction coil or resonator, is without iron This high frequency core, its magnetic circuit being of material of low permeability so that the time period of the coil is a minimum and it is adapted to produce oscillatory discharges of extremely high frequency, Such a discharge is not capable of transmission for any considerable distance through a conductor, on account of loss by induction, and in order to avoid such loss a resonator is mounted directly adjacent to the sparkii'ig electrode, for example, as shown in Figs. 4; and 5. The resonator may be inclosed in a casing 42- adjacent to the spark plug 43, said casing and. spark plug being secured by means 44', 43, to the cylinder 44 of an internal combustion engine. The spark gap means comprises an'outer electrode which is grounded or connected to the cylinder wall and an inner electrode 41 which is connected by Wire 41 to the inner terminal of the sec: ondary coil of the resonator as stated.

The construction of resonator or high frequency induction coil as above described has the property of presenting a greater oscillatory electromotive orce at one terminal 7 than a t.;the other, the electromotive force of the"terminal connected to the primary being substantially m'l and the entire oscillatory electromotive force being developed substantially at the terminal farthest from the primary, said terminal being connected to the sparking electrode ll in the engine cylinder. It has been found that when an oscillatory discharge is connnunicated to a grounded electrode or to an electrode in contact with the cylinder-the energy of the discharge is wasted or dissipated in the ground or in the metallic body of the cylinder, and by providing a resonator whose discharge is substantially at one terminal only and connecting that terminal to the insulating spark electrode in the engine the advantage is secured of delivering substantially the entire energy of discharge to the spark.

' The operation is as follows: In rotation of the shaft 1 for example, in the operation of the internal combustion engine, the insulating segmental shell Qis caused to revolve.

In the position shown in Fig. 3 this shell breaks circuit connection between the central contact roller 3 and both of the other contact rollers 4. In the continued revolution of the shell it reaches a position Whereas follows: from the battery 30, by wire 31,

central contact roller 3, one of the contact rollers 4, wire 37, primary coil 35 of-one of the resonators, Wires 28 and 33 through the self induction coil 34 back to the battery.

The current so passing energizes the self in duction coil 3i and on continued revolution of the insulating shell '2 when it reaches a point at which its advancing edge-comes under the outer contact roller 4 aforesaid it will raise said contact roller from the central contact roller 3 and at the, same time will intcrpose an insulating wall between the contact rollers, thereby interrupting the 0116-. cult and causing the self mfduction C011 34.

to generate an induced current.'ot-ghigh potential to charge the condenser-B9. The moment said condenser chargereaches its maximum potential it proc eds to discharge through a circuit indepen ent of said self induction coil. namely through the wire 29,

primary coil 35, Wire37, contact roller 4, spark gap between said contact roller and the central contact roller 3 and wires 31, back to the condenser. No appreciable part of this condenser discharge will pass back to the charging circuit on account of the excessive impedance of the latter as compared with that ol 'thte circuit through the primary of the "resonator just traced. Said primary being of few turns and of resistance, ductance, the discharge thus passin the condenser will be high frequen;

The circuit interrupting means 'tlb'ove scribed has the following advantages. At every interruption of the charge takes place between a (litter-exit part of the respective contacts so that no two parts are, in general, exposedto repeated attack by the discharge, the heating and corroding etl'ects of the discharge being thus distributed over the entire. discharging surface of each contact. As there is no sharp edge from which the arc is drawn the danger of over-heating or burning by the arc is reduced to a minimum. the above reasons the amount of metallic. vapor generated at the point of arcing or discharge between the contacts is reduced to a minimum and the specific resistance of the space between the separating contacts is thereby increased so that the rise of resistance during separation reaches a maximum with a corresponding increase and rapidity of the discharge of the self induction coil and an increase of charging potential on the condenser. This fact is further evident in the discharge from the condenser in giving a short, snappy discharge instead of a lingering one in which the energy of the discharge is wastedby attenuation.

d-in 100 circuit the dis- 105 A further advantage of the above described circuit controlling means is that the of thespark-ls not influenced or. varie by reason of 'wearing away of thetimin contacts. In any timer the are drawn at the contacts wearsawa theedges of the contacts and, in general, t. ew ear is unequal on the different contacts, so that it is notpos- I sible to secure proper adjustment of the timer for more than one-cylindeny The breaking of the circuitby an-insulating shell, which prevents the same condition at each point of break, obviates this ditticulty.

The invention is' not limited to the use of a shell of insulatingmaterial, as other means may be used for fting the outer contact roller from the inner contact roller. In (the form shown in Figs. 6 to 8 a means for-this purpose is shown consisting of an insulating member acting as a cam to lift the outer roller from the inner roller. :-;In'this form of the invention the, casing, outer and inner contact rollers, driving shaft, etc., are'or may be constructed as abovedescribed, and

are indicated by reference numerals, as above, but the driving shaft'in this case carries a metallic shell 45 secured to. the shaft by the head plate 26.- Said metallic shell is formed as a segment of-a circle. having a rtion thereof cut out as shown at to a low the outer contact rollers 4 to coine'i'nto conv tact with the central contact when successivel Four of such outer contact rollers are s own in this case, said rollers being con- 'nected respectively to the low tension coil ofthe res ective resonators 36. The inner contact r0 ler 3 extends only half the lengthof the metallic shell and-the inner. end oft e shell is occupied by a block 47 of insulating periphery of roller 3 and directly material which is cut awa at 47' that it extends to a less radial istance than'the at the rear of this portion is provided wi an outwardly extending projection or cam portion 48 which extends somewhat beyond the periphery of the metallicshell 45. Shell 45 bein carried by the head 23 in shaft 1, .is

'insu ated from centralroller 3 by the insulating ring 13. The contact rollers 4 are of sively onto .the inner contact roller as the open portion of said shell comes beneath said outer rollers the insulating block 47 being cut away, as stated, adjacent to the first r well as by t portion OI this opening in the shell. This contact of an outer roller with the "innerf roller serves to close energizing connection for self induction coil 34, through wire 84,

y and the primary; coil ofone of the resonators as above described. Then in the further rotationof the shaft 1 the cam portion 48 will come 'undeiythe said outer roller and will lift it out of contact with the inner roller 3,, Y

thereby interrupting'the energizing circuit forthe self-induction coil and causing dis-' chargeofthe' self-induction means into the.

condenser with ensuing dischargeof the condenser through the spark gap formed at the break between the outer and innerfco'ntact rollers as above described. If the device rotates in the opposite direction, for example, if in turning over the machine it turns backward, sufficiently to bring into contact with jlthe'inner roller an outer roller connected'to theresonator for. a spark gap in.

a cylinder which is on the compression stroke, the lifting of the outer roller from.

the central roller will be by means of the metallic shell 45 and this shell being grounded'it short circuits the"corresponding resonator so .that'the condenser discharge is without effect on the resonator and no ex-f plosion occurs; This prevents back firing which is a frequent cause of accident. The

shell 45 beinginsulated from the central contact member 3, it follows that'when any contact roller 4 resting on this shell 45, the connectl'om from the energizing circuit and condnsr, through wire 31 is broken the shell 45 holding the. roller oil of contact roller '3 and operating as a connection breaking means, .or circuit breaker. This opening of the cha gl'ing circuit by'the shell. 45, as e IOjGCtlOn 48 is necessary, as some of the ro lers 4 are always in contact with the shell, and if the shell were not insulated from central roller 3, the operation of projection 48 would be Without effect on the circuit.

The'shell 45 in Figs. 6 to 8, although it is of conducting material, serves as an insulating shell as regards the inner and outer contact members, and the term insulating shell is intended to cover the construction. Vthat I claim is:

1. 2-. circuit controll 5 device for ignition apparatus comprising a central contact means, an outer contact means movable toward and from the central contact means,

means for pressing the outer contact means ,toward the central contact means, a rotary circuit breaking member mounted concentricall with the central contact means and rotata lerelatively to both of said contact means, said rotary circuit breaking member being formed as a shell movable between said central and outer contact means, and

means for rotating said circuit breaking I member.

w means, said rotary circuit-breaking member 2. A circuit controlling device for ignition apparatus comprlsing a central contact means, an outercontact means movable toward and from the central contact means, means for pressing the ,outer contact means toward the central contact means, a rotary circuit breaking member mounted concentricall with the central. contact means and rota'ta' le relatively toboth of said contact means and movable between ,said contact comprising a shell formed as a segment of a cylinder, and-means for rotating said circuit breaking membe rm 3;, In a circuit controlling device for igni tion apparatus, a vcentral contact roller, a circuit breaking segmental shell mounted to rotate on an axis concentric with said con-.

I tact-roller, an outer contact roller, means for inovably supporting said outer contact roller and permitting movement thereof to and from the central contact roller, and a spring 4 movable toward, and from the central confor pressing the outer contact roller upon the central contact roller and enabling separation of the rollers by the circuit breaking shell in the rotation thereof.

4. A circuit controlling device for ignition apparatus comprising a central contact roller, a plurality of outer contact means tact roller and provided with meansv whereby they are pressed toward the central con-. tact roller, a rotary circuit breaking member mounted concentrically with the central'contact roller and movable between the outer contact means and the central contact roller to lift the outer contact means successively from c ontact with the central contact roller, and means for rotating said circuit breaking member.

tallic insulated shell.

' 5. A circuit controlling devicefor ignition apparatus comprising a central contact means, a plurality of outer contact means provided with supporting devices holding the same yieldingly in contactwith the central contact means, and "a rotary segmental shell adapted to rotate between the central and outer 1 contact means, said shell being rotatable relatively to the central and to the outer contact means, said shell having an .opening to permit the outer contact means to contact with the inner contact means.

6. A circuit controlling device for ignition apparatus comprising a central contact means, a plurality of outer contact means provided with supportingdevices for holding the same. yieldingly in contact with the inner contact means, a rotary segmental Inetallic insulated shelladapted to rotate between the inner and outer contact means,

said shell having an opening to permit the 'outercontact means to contact with the in-' ner contact means, a grounded circuit connected to said outer and mner contact means and including self induction means, a source of electromotive force, a condenser connected to receive a charge from the self induction means, a plurality of induction coils having.

their primaries connected to the respective outer contact means, spark gap means con nected to the secondaries of said induction 

